Green Day's theater tour coming to Berkeley next month

East Bay punkers Green Day will launch a theater tour in a couple weeks that includes a stop in Berkeley.

Less than two weeks after the band releases its 12th album, "Revolution Radio," on Oct. 7, the trio will play Berkeley's UC Theatre on Oct. 20. The tour starts in St. Louis on Sept. 20.

Ticketsfor the general admission Berkeley show go on sale at 9 a.m. Sept. 9, priced at $77.50. Presale tickets available to Green Day's Idiot Nation go on sale at 9 a.m. Sept. 7. Ticket information can be found at www.greenday.com.

There's one situation where being an idiot is a good thing.

After the Berkeley gig, the tour resumes in January in Italy and rolls through Germany, Sweden and the U.K.

Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong, center, with bassist Mike Dirnt, right, and drummer Tre Cool rock the house during a concert at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco Calif. on November 24, 2004. ( (Tue Nam Ton/Bay Area News Group))

After years of working with outside producers, this time the band tackled producing duties on its own. Frontman Billie Joe Armstrong told Rolling Stone "This time I just wanted to feel the freedom of just depending on ourselves and getting in a room. There's no in-between person, and we're forced to sort of be in there with each other."

Armstrong also sounds excited about the musicianship on this record.

"Tre (Cool's) drumming on this record is I think the best he's ever done," Armstrong said. "I could say the same with Mike (Dirnt's) bass playing."